Handrahan: Ros-Lehtinen as UN ambassador? Sounds like a great choice

December 24, 2012|By Lori Handrahan

Speculation in Washington is Susan Rice, America's Ambassador to the United Nations, may resign in the coming weeks. Embattled by a candidacy for Secretary of State that went awry, Rice has suffered a confidence and credibility lost that will hinder her ability to be an effective representative for America at the UN.

Who will President Obama select to replace Ambassador Rice? Gen. Ann Dunwoody, America's first female four-star general, UN Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) Deputy Director Geeta Rao Gupta and Congresswoman Ilena Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee would all be excellent choices. Of the three, Ros-Lehtinen would be a stroke of pure political genesis. Here's why:

First, Ros-Lehtinen is a Republican. She used to be a Democrat so she is the kind of Republican Democrats can work with — liberal on key social issues. For example, she is a founding member and Vice Chair of the LGBT Equality Caucus. A Republican female ambassador to the UN would demonstrate, in word and deed, President Obama's oft promised commitment to bi-partisanship. Such an appointment would be an act of true bi-partisanship spirit.

Second, beyond political gamesmanship, Ros-Lehtinen would make an excellent representative at the UN because she knows how to fight. Representing America at the United Nations is not for the faint of heart. It takes fire and passion. It takes experience out in the world beyond America; the hard-knock kind that an eight year child who fled Fidel Castro's Cuba has programmed into her political DNA.

A Hill staffer reportedly told Foreign Policy that Ros-Lehtinen goes for the jugular; exactly what is needed at the UN's Security Council, especially against Russia. She understands Russia as an adversary in a way only someone who lived under Soviet control, if only for her first eight years, can. Russia's dominance in the Security Council has been one of America's biggest challenges. Ros-Lehtinen, as our ambassador, going for Russia's jugular may be exactly what is needed to knock the Security Council back into a functioning forum.

Third, Ros-Lehtinen, as Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee (the Republican's only female committee chair) has earned a reputation as President Obama's "chief foreign policy antagonist." She has been a fierce critic of the White House's weakness with those who would harm America. She has also been a vocal advocate for upholding America's fight for justice and leadership on moral principles in places like Darfur, Libya and Syria. Why would President Obama appoint his nemesis UN Ambassador? What a better place to keep your number-one foreign-policy enemy.

Fourth, Ros-Lehtinen has said she wants to slash US funding to the UN. Once she is in New York fighting for America's role, voice and power as a great nation among nations she may change her mind. Working inside the UN she may become America's biggest champion of the UN Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. For example, given Ros-Lehtinen's opposition to child marriage, it would be natural for her to become a supporter of the UN's newest agency, UNWomen, run by another powerful Latino woman, Michelle Bachelet from Chile.

Fifth, her Latino credentials, both in culture and language, are critically important. They will provide valuable ease of access and communication with the General Assembly and Secretariat. Most UN folks cringe at Americans who speak English-only. It is a mark of narrow-mindedness and slowness in a multi-lingual environment where people speak four or five languages. Global-views and language skills that Ros-Lehtinen possesseswill create the kinds of friendships that drive successful diplomacy at the UN.

The Latino vote and the woman vote were both responsible, in no small part, for President Obama's victory. Appointing a female Republican Latino as our Ambassador the UN would be both a sincere, heart-felt thank you to American women and the Latino community and would also be a bold, brilliant, pragmatic bi-partisan choice. Most importantly, Ros-Lehtinen, as America's ambassador to the United Nations, would ensure America maintains, and even augments, our leadership position as a great nation at the United Nations. What could be better than that?

Lori Handrahan, Ph.D., is a professor at American University's School of International Service. She has worked for the United Nations, off and on, for over 20 years. from Central Asia to the Balkans and Africa. She can be reached at handraha@american.edu